Digital identities – overcoming visual bias through virtual embodiment

ABSTRACT

This study sheds new light on the role of identity in virtual environments when virtual representation of self is in support of disabled individuals and the potential impact of their virtual identity on work opportunities. It is widely understood that individuals who live with disability often experience a lifetime of bullying, exclusion, marginalization and rejection. They often experience workplace bias and discrimination. Yet, when they can create an identity and experience embodiment in virtual environments, the results can be extraordinarily powerful – even life-changing. This research builds on nearly a decade of ethnographic research in 3D online immersive social virtual worlds; seven of those years working with disability communities to answer the following: RQ1: In a virtual world where one can choose any avatar form, how does that visual sense of self-representation influence one’s ability to gain access to a social network, to be a leader in that network, and to find work? RQ2: How does realism in representation influence work experiences in these digital worlds? The results reveal the importance of choice in online representation of avatars in creating work and online social engagement. Implications contribute to our understanding of visual bias in the workplace and how emerging virtual reality technologies may open new avenues for meaningful work and social interactions for people with disabilities.     

天津市推动三区建设的若干思考

“以宅基地换房”,建设示范小城镇,促进农民居住社区、示范工业园区、农业产业园区“三区”建设,是天津市城镇化过程中独创的、行之有效的发展经验。天津“三区”建设的创新经验和做法,丰富了滨海新区作为国家级综合改革试验区的内容,值得归纳和总结。     

Lactation and fertility in Rural Bangladesh

Summary Analysis of data from various phases of a study of post-partum amenorrhoea in Bangladesh illustrated good aggregate consistency of response on menstrual status, but less individual consistency on duration of post-partum amenorrhoea. Using life table techniques, the median duration of amenorrhoea was calculated as 19.9 months for women with births between February and September 1974. There were substantial seasonal variations in duration, with the median decreasing from 21.5 months for women with February births to 16.9 months for those with September births. By contrast, the median duration of post-partum amenorrhoea varies by only two months for women in the lowest and highest quartiles of weight and weight for height. The seasonal pattern was similar for all weight groups.     

Recruitment,enrollment & data collection with victims of elder abuse and neglect identified from police incident reports

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the success of researcher-generated recruitment, enrollment, data collection, and safety protocols for field research with victims of elder abuse and neglect (EAN) identified from police incident reports in terms of their success including cost-effectiveness, ability to generate a representative sample, and safety. After reviewing 492 police incident reports involving victims age 65 years or older to identify cases of EAN 62 victims were identified. Mail, phone, and in-person recruitment strategies were used. After 259 recruitment attempts, 52 (84%) eligible victims were contacted, of which 24 (46%) consented to participate. Phone calls were the least expensive mechanism to produce a successfully enrolled participant. Findings from a regression show completion of a research interview could not be predicted by victim, suspect, or offense characteristics, indicating that the recruited victims likely represent the population they were drawn from. No safety or adverse events occurred.     

Mathematical analyses of casino rebate systems for VIP gambling

In Macao, the VIP gaming revenue accounts for over two thirds of the total gaming revenue. Since the VIP gaming market is highly competitive, several incentives such as rebates are used to attract the VIP players. There are two commonly used rebate systems in the VIP gaming market: rebate on buy-in and rebate on actual loss. The analysis of rebate on buy-in is relatively easy. However, the analysis of rebate on actual loss is more complicated, which involves the Unit Normal Linear Loss Integral. Using empirical data, MacDonald derived a simple approximation formula for computing the rebate rate on actual loss. In this paper, we use mathematical analysis to derive more accurate approximation formulas for computing the rebate rate on actual loss. Some practical examples are given to compare the accuracies of these formulas. We also discuss how these two rebate systems affect the fluctuations of the results.     

Military Invasion and Women's Political Representation

The bodies produced by the violent practice of suicide bombing are a source of horror and disgust. They are, in feminist psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva's concept, abject: that which defies borders and is expelled to create the self. As ‘abject bodies’, suicide bombers' bodies frustrate attempts at calculation and rational control of security risks, and, in their mutilated flesh, expose as unstable the idea of the body as a whole with clearly defined boundaries between inside and outside. Female suicide bombers, whose bodies are already considered ‘abject’, produce a politics of the body that exceeds narratives of victimhood, and whose very monstrosity symbolically threatens the foundations of the nation-state. Attempts at constructing subjects out of the mutilated bodily remains of victims and perpetrators of suicide bombings are key practices in the production of the state and gendered subjects. The practice of suicide bombing and efforts to recover and resignify bodies reveals how power molds and constitutes the border of the body and state simultaneously. The explosive body of the suicide bomber thus has destabilizing effects beyond the motivations of its perpetrators and exposes the political work necessary to maintain the illusion of secure, bounded bodies and states.     

Pre-arrest drug use and associated risk factors among incarcerated offenders in China

ABSTRACT

Past research has consistently reported a higher rate of drug use before arrest among incarcerated inmates than that of the general population. However, there is a lack of either qualitative or quantitative research on this topic under the Chinese setting. Drawing upon survey data collected from 1,518 inmates in a Chinese province, this study attempts to fill in the research gap by assessing the connection between risk factors associated with pre-arrest use. Roughly a quarter of all inmates in the sample had the experience of drug use before arrest. Regression analysis suggested that impulsivity, volatile temper, and perceived prevalence of drug use in neighborhood were significantly related to drug use among inmates. Two control variables include offense type and stable job, were also found to be significant predictors of drug use. Implications for research and policy were highlighted in the end.     

新世纪民族意识研究新动向新观点述评

本文对20世纪80年代以来民族意识理论研究的主要成果,尤其是金炳镐先生的主要观点进行了总结性介绍,对新世纪以来民族意识研究的新动向、新观点、代表性的作品进行了梳理和评述,最后指出了当前民族意识研究中的不足和误区.     

西南民族大学金·史密斯藏学文献馆的建馆历程

著名藏学家金·史密斯先生用一生的时间从事藏文文献的保护工作,在藏文文献的收集、整理、研究、利用等领域做出了巨大的贡献,为后人留下了大量的藏文文献。他在美国纽约建立了藏传佛教文献资料中心（简称：TBRC）,大量的藏文文献在国内、外藏学界利用起来。同时他也是把藏文文献的原件从国外捐赠给中国的第一位外国藏学家,2012年12月,历时5年的藏文纸质文献的捐赠工作顺利完成。本论文对金·史密斯先生建立TBRC的具体情况,捐赠纸质文献给西南民族大学的事件,西南民族大学金·史密斯藏学文献馆建馆历程等内容进行梳理,以此来缅怀为藏文文献的保护工作付出一生的美国藏学家。     

中国历史上的以官为业

以官为业是中国历史上一种突出现象,它具有长期性、专职性、俸禄性、依附性四个特点;以官为业在中国历史上萌芽于春秋战国,形成于秦并延续至清朝,其具体表现是多方面的;而其弊端亦更为严重.